U of T’s women’s hockey team (14-0-1) put a lengthy unbeaten streak of 15 games in OUA competition on the line when they took on the Windsor Lancers (7-5-3) at Varsity Arena last Friday night. This was a tilt between the best team in the OUA East versus the second best in the OUA West.

Windsor has been on a roll since play resumed in January, pulling off a 4-1 record. They’re currently riding a four game winning streak which includes wins over Queens, Guelph and Waterloo. These wins take on added significance because Queens and Guelph are both ranked in the top 15 among the CIS.

The first period was filled with missed chances and sloppy passes. Both teams seemed tense. U of T had the majority of excellent scoring chances, as they out-shot the Lancers 11-3. No one could find the twine despite numerous opportunities.

It seemed as if Windsor was sitting back in the first period waiting for the Blues to make a costly mistake. They continued this strategy in the second and it resulted in a goal by Holly Quinn at 1:44. Not to be outdone, the Blues tied the game at 8:09 on a goal by Carla Pagniello. Both teams still had a great deal of trouble with neutral zone passes, which made for a turnover-filled period.

The Blues laid heavy siege on Lancer goalie Renee Laframboise in the final frame with an aggressive forecheck and long periods of sustained pressure in the Windsor zone. But U of T, once again, had trouble putting pucks in the net. In the defensive end, captain Susie Laska played an outstanding period, not allowing Windsor forwards to get anywhere near Blues goalie Allison Houston.

  The third stanza ended with the score still deadlocked at 1-1. The offensive pace slowed in the last few minutes and the scoring chances disappeared. Overtime was an entirely different animal though, producing fast-paced end-to-end action and the game-winning goal off the stick of Carla Pagniello at 3:28. This was her second of the game, which was good enough to net her player of the game honours.

“Carla made a really great move,” said Laska after the game. “She really stepped up and put it in when we needed it.”

Forward Bree Kruklis also praised Pagniello’s efforts. “Carla and the overtime goal are the things that stood out for me tonight. We got a little nervous and hesitant, but the win gives us a big boost.”

“It’s almost harder to stay on top than to get on top and you still have to treat every game like it’s a big game. We still could end up undefeated this season, we must remain confident,” said Kruklis when asked about being the best in the OUA.

As head coach, it’s Karen Hughes’ duty to remain even-keeled and keep the emotions of her players in check She has to be able to see the positives and negatives about her team’s performance every night, which she was able to do on Friday.

“We should have scored earlier, we had lots of opportunities,” she saio. “Carla obviously played well and Laska was really good on the defensive end, but overall our defensive zone coverage was not our strength tonight.”

With the win, the Blues extend their OUA-best winning streak to an impressive 16 games. There was not much time to revel in this accomplishment, as the team had to be back on the ice the next night for a battle with Western. U of T’s offence came back to life on Saturday, lighting up the Mustangs for a 5-0 win. The defensive coverage also tightened, giving up only five shots in the entire contest. Goalie Lisa Robertson earned the shut-out.